Pressing machine



Dec. 22,1925. 1,566,351

' A..L SCMSLA PRESSING MACHINE Filed Oct. 31, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS.

Dec. 22, 1925- 66,

A. J. SOCIA PRESS ING MACHINE Filed m. 51, 1923 4 Sheets Shqo't 2 I N VEN TOR.

'A TTORNEY5,

Dec. 22, 19 5. 1,566,351

A. J. SOCIA PRESSING MACHINE Filed Oct. 31, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 A TTORNEYS Dec. 22,1925. 1,566,351

A. J. SOCIA PRESSING MACHINE Filed Oct. 31,- 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 iNlfENTOR.

A TTORNEYS Patented oee'az, 19 25.

UNITED STATES ALEXANDER J. SO CIA, 0F SYRACUSE,

NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO LIBERTY NATIONAL BANK, TRUSTEE, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

PRESSING MACHINE.

Application filed October 31, 1923. Serial No. 671,997.-

To aZZ whom it may oohoern: Be it known that I, ALEXANDER J. Soon,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Pressing Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to pressing machines, such as are used particularly liIl pressing garments, clothing, laundry and the like, which machines are actuated by power; and has for its object a simple and compact actuating mechanism so arranged that locks and latches are unnecessary and so that the power cannot be transferredto the movable pressing element except when such element has been brought down toward 'the work far enpugh to prevent injury to the operator'or, in other words, so that the power cannot be effectively applied 'while it is possible for the operator to-have his hands or fingers between the pressing elements but,

. 'showinga pressing if applied, merely works idly on the movable pressing .element.

The invention consists inthe novel features and in'the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like characters designate corresponding 7 parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the pressing machine embodying my invention, the pressing elements being shown in closed position, preliminary to the actuation of the power lever by the cam to apply heavy pressure.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation e ement in open position.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail view 0 the partsof the ower mechanism.

Figure 4 is a etail view of a lever mechanism for connecting the motion transmitting mechanism to the motor driven actuator.

Figure '5 is an elevation similar to Figure 1 of a machinehavinganother. form of actuator.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing a clutch mechanism embodying the part in the construction shown in Figure 5. v

Figure 7 is a fragmentary detail view of operating means for such clutch mechanism.

This pressing machine comprises generally coacting pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other, the latter being supported by the frame of the machine, a lever carrying the movable element, the lever being pivoted to the frame, a power member and mechanism for transmitting the motion of the power member to said lever, such mechanism including means by, which the power, if applied, when the press is open, is ineffective and works idly on said lever, and is only efiective on said lever after the press has been closed b hand.

As here illustrated, the movablla pressing element is arranged above the stationary pressing element and is movable upwardly and downwardly toward and from the stationary element.

1 designates the lower pressing element or buck which is mounted u on a bracket 2, which, in turn, is mount upon a table 3 supported by the frame 4 of the machine, all of which parts may be of any suitable form, size and construction. I

6 is the upper pressing element or head which is carried by a lever 7 pivoted between its ends at 8 to the upper end of an upwardly extending standard 9 provided on the frame 1, this lever 7 having a suitable handle 10 by meansof which the press head 6 is first brought down toward or ontothe work spread on the lower buck 1'.

11 desi ates the power member which, as here s own, is a lever pivoted at 12 to the frame 4 near the bottom thereof. The motion transmitting means between the member or lever 11 and the lever 7 ,which carries the press head comprises a main toggle link 13 mounted at its lower end on i the ivot 12 and usually formed rigid with the ever 11, a folding toggle link 14 includingparts '15 and 16 pivoted together at 17 and pivoted respectively at 18 to the rear arm of the lever 7 and at 19 to the upper end of the link 13, the parts 15,16 being pivoted together at 17 by a stop joint arranged to stop the itolding of the link 1% when the joint 17 has passed into or slightl beyond the dead center line of the togge parts 15, 16.

Owing to looks are necessary and the toggle is selfcontained or self-locking. Thus, upon the movement of the press headdownwardly from its position shown in Figure 2, the

the stop joint, no latches or folding link 14 moves from its folded position shown in Figure 2 to ts straight POSI- tion shown in Figure 1 and such movement is relative to the main toggle link 13, which remains stationary while the folding link 14 is moving from folded to straight positlon. Thereafter power is applied to the ever 11 either by foot or b power or motor driven mechanism and t e toggle links 13, 14 straightened and heavy pressure is applied to the lever 7 and the press head 6, and in so doing the links 13, 14 move from the position shown in Figure 1 toward the dead center line of the toggle links 13, 14, that is, a straight line passing through the pivot-s 12 and 18. If power is applied to the lever 11 before the head 6 has been brought down to such a point that the folding link 14 1S straightened, the folding link Wlll fold up instead of transmitting motion to the lever 7 and, hence, the operator, although he may apply pressure or power to actuate the lever 11, cannot apply power to the upper press head while his hands are between the press- 2 ing elements.

The stop joint between the parts 15 and 16 of the folding link 14, in addition to the pivot 17, includes an arm 20 carried on one of said parts as part 15, the arm extending 1 across the pivot 17 and overlapping the part 16 in order to engage the part 16 after the folding link 14, consisting of the parts 15, 16, has been straightened. Usually, the arm 20 is provided with an adjustable engaging end, as a set screw 21. As the use of stop joints in toggles is well known and further, as there are many kinds of stop jo nts, further description of such stop olnts is thought to be unnecessary and it will be understood that any stop joint may be em ployed,

Also, in order to adjust the press head 6 to the thickness of the work being operated upon, one of the parts of the folding link 14 is adjustable endwisely to lengthen or shorten the link 14 and, as here shown, the part 15 is adjustable endwisely, it being provided with a turn-buckle construction 1ncluding an intermediate part 22 having right and left hand threaded connection with the end sections, the latter being pivoted at 17 and 18 to the part 16 and to the lever 7 respectively.

Also, in order to avoid the use of latches and other additional par-ts, means 1s rovided for limiting the movement of the pivot or the joint 19 of the main tog le after it has passed into or beyond the cad center line as the main toggle and, as here shown, the link 13 and folding link 14 are connected by a stop joint 23 of any suitable construction, that here shown as being similar to the stop joint between the parts 15 and 16 of the folding toggle link 14.

The power lever 11 is preferably actuated by amotor driven actuator as a cam 24 mounted upon a constantly rotating shaft 25, coacting with a follower carried by the lever 11 and shift-able into and out of congage the cam and being movable at will under the cam by suitable operator operated means when the low point of the cam comes opposite to the roller. The cam 24 is of such shape that there is a clearance between the heel or low point of the cam and the follower. This clearance permits the; follower to move under the low point of the cam and also to release itself from the camunder the influence of the wei ht 29 after the lever 11 has been depressed by the came As here illustrated, the follower 26 is moved into and normally held in its inactive position by a weighted arm 29 and is shifted into operative position so that its roller 28- is under the cam 24 by a suitable mechanism at 31 to the bottom of the frame 4 and having an arm engaged with an angularly extending arm 32 on the follower 26, and an actuating lever or treadle 33 pivoted at 34 to the bottom of the main frame having a front plate 35 at its outer end, and engaged at its inner end as by a pin-and-slotconnection at 36 with the lever 30. Obviously, upon the depression of the lever 33, the lever 30 will be rocked on its pivot 31 and depress the arm 32, thus rocking the follower against the holding action of the Weighted arm and moving the roller 28 under the cam 24. As the cam 24 is constantly rotating, it will act upon the roller 28 and thus depress the follower 26 and the lever 11, and the lever 11 will move the toggle link 13 forwardly into the dead center line of the main toggle consisting of thelinks 13, 14 and, in so doing, apply pressure to the upper press head 6, it being understood that the press head has been ulled downwardly from its position shown in Figure 2 to that in Figure 1, so as to straighten the folding link 14 before the foot lever 33has been operated to connect the lever 11 or the follower 26 to the cam 24. In Figure 1, the toggle links 13 14, power lever 11, cam 24 and; follower 26 are in their positions assumed just after the head 6 has been pulled down toward the buck 1 by hand and the follower has moved under the low point of cam 24. and prior to the time that the high point of the cam 24 will engage the follower 26 and depresses the lever 7 to further straighten the toggle links 13 14 and apply heavy pressure. When in this position the lever 11 is adjacent to Stop 42 and when the lever 11 is depressedlever 33 is operated before kick off pedal 33 ment of the yoke by the cam it moves downwardly away from stop 42 from the position shown in Figure 1. This movement of the lever 11. is .a relatively small one it being sufficient to move the toggle links 13 14 into their dead center line. When the toggle links are in their dead center line, they automatically lock the press closed without the use of looks or latches, this being a function incidental to toggles having stop joints. In the event this the press head 6 has been brought down by hand and before the folding link is straightened, the lever 11 and the toggle link 13 will be actuated but such actuation will be ineffective upon the lever 7, as it will merely tend to fold the folding link 14 to a greater extent than normally After the pivots 12, 19 and 18 have been brought into line, the cam 24 continues to revolve without effecting a movement of the press head, and only upon operation of the at an appropriate time willd the toggle .13, 14 be broken to open the hea To open the press, the toggle link 13 is actuated to move the joint 19 rearwardly out of the dead center line, so that the press will open by the usual counterweight 37 acting on the rear arm of the lever 7 and by a spring lever 11 and at its other endto the frame. The spring 38 acts to move the main link rearwardly and in so doing g'iving sufficient impulse to the folding link 14 to cause it to unfold or start unfolding so that the counterweight completes the unfolding.

After the starting impulse has been 'ven by the kick off lever 33, the main togg e 14, 13 continues to open under the influence of the weight 37 and spring 38 and the joint 19 of the main toggle travels rearwardly in an are having a slight downward movement and the joint 18 at the upper end of the main toggle travels downwardly and forwardly in an are faster than the joint 19 travels rearwardly and downwardly for the reason that the rear arm of the yoke lever 7 is of a short radius compared with that of the link 13 and also as this rear arm is horizontal when the press is closed and in a horizontal line with the axis 8 its forward movement begins at the very start of the opening move- 7 While the link 13 stands when the press is closed out of a vertical line passing through the pivot 12 of the link 13 and' the joint 19 is well to the rear of such vertical line. Immediately u on the starting impulse being given to t e link 13 by the depression of the kick oif lever 33, the pivot 18 moves downwardly and forwardly at affaster rate than the pivot 19 moves rearwardly and downwardly in-its are. This movement in eflectlocates the pivot 17 reara s'traight hne passing wardly-relatively to 38 connected at one end to the disengage the plate is transferred to the dlsks to comthrough the pivots 18 and 19 so that the sections 15 and 16 of the toggle link 14 fold about the joint 17.

As here shown, this main lever is operated to open the press by what, for convenience, is called a kick off lever 39 pivoted at 40 to the bottom of the frame having one arm arranged under the front end of the lever 11 and the other arm provided with a pedal late 41. A suitable stop 42 is provided or limiting the opening movement of the main link 13, this stop being here shown as carried by the frame and coacting with the lever 11 to limit the upward movement thereof by the spring 38.

The shaft 25 on'which the cam is mounted is actuated by a suitable motor 43 mounted on the frame and connected to the shaft by suitable gearing located in the casing 44, the

casing 44 being also supported in any suitable manner on the main frame 4.

Instead of a constantly moving cam, any other-power mechanism may be embodied and, as shown in Figures 5' and 6, an intermittently actuated cam 45 may be used coacting with a lever 46 corresponding to the lever 11, the cam being always engaged with the lever 46. This cam is mounted upon an intermittently movable shaft 47 which is driven by a constantly running electric motor 48'the shaft of which is connected to the shaft 47 through a mechanism including a half revolution clutch located in the casing 49, this clutch being operated to connect the shaft 47 to the motor shaft or a shaft driven by a motor, by a manually oper ated shifting lever 51.

As here illustrated, he shaft 47 is connected to the motor shaft 52 through a worm 53 mounted on the shaft 52, and meshing with a worm gear 54 mounted concentric with the shaft 47 and rotatable about the same, and a clutch for engaging and disen-.

gaging the disks 57 being interleaved with the disks 55,

the disks beingnormally se arated so that the clutch is-disengaged an being pressed together by a pressure plate operable to compress the disks by the lever 51.

v 59 designates the pressure plate having a hub 60 slidable axially on the shaft 47 in one direction against the *action 'ofthe compression spring '61 interposed between the hub 58 and the .plate'5-9, so that the spring tends to press the plate59 to the right to the clutch disks. The pressure of press the same through a series of springs, as a spring '62, encircling studs pro ecting from the plate 59, each spring 62 thrusting at one end against the plate and at its other end against the endmost disk 57 The plate 59 coacts with the means for holding the clutch engaged or the plate 59 shifted, during each half revolution and for permitting it to be shifted to the right to disengage the clutch at the end of each half revolution by the spring 61. This means, as here shown, comprises an annual track or cam 63 arranged concentric with the shaft 47 and having diametrically opposite notches 64, the track coact-ing with the followers or rollers 65 on the outer or right hand face of the plate 59 and the notches 64 receiving such followers at the end of each half revolution. The track 63, as here shown, is mounted on an end plate 66 of the casing 49. The hub 60 of the pressure plate 59 extends outside of the end plate 66 and has a suitable groove for receiving the fork 67 at the end of the shifting lever 51.

, Obviously, upon the shifting of the plate 59 inwardly to the left against the action of the spring 61, the pressure of the plate 59 will be transferred through the springs 62- to the disks 55, 57 and the clutch will be engaged and, hence, the worm gear 54 clutched to the shaft 47; and such movement of the plate 59 to the left will move the rollers 65 out of the notches 64 so that the plate will be rotated and the rollers 65 will travel along the track 63 during a half revolution of the shaft 47 with the worm gear 54 until the rollers 65 again register withfthe notches 64 and the spring 61 is free to shift the plate 59 to the right carrying the rollers into the 'uotches 64 and disengaging the clutch, so

that the shaft 47 and the cam 45 are again stationary.

The lever 51, as here shown, is an angle lever pivoted at 68 and connected to a suitable handle lever 69 by a link 70, the lever 69 being pivoted at 71 to the frame. This lever 69 is located in any desired position to be conveniently operated by the operator.

In operation, the operator pulls down the upper press head, as before, in the construction shown in Figures 1 and 2, strai htening the toggle links 13 and 14 an then the operator pulls forwardly on the lever 69 and thus operates the lever 51 to throw in the half revolution clutch, and hence causing the shaft 47 and the cam 45 to make a half revolution and depress the lever 46 and hence straighten the main toggle consisting of the links 13' and 14".

After the pressure has been applied long enough to suit the operator, the handle 69 is again operated and the clutch makes another half revolution permitting the lever 46 to rise and the main toggle to open and, in so doing, cause the second toggle consisting of the folding links 15 and 16' to fold up. In this construction, the main toggle consisting of the llnKS 13' and 14 does not quite move into the dead center line.

As the cam 45 moves away from the lever 46, the spring connected to such lever 46 causes the lever to follow the cam, the counterweight also facilitating such operation. As the joint of the main toggle moves rearwardly, the joint connecting the upper link of the main toggle and the yoke lever moves downwardly and forwardly faster than the main joint of the toggle moves rearwardly and downwardly, thus causing'the small toggle comprising the main toggle link 14 to fold as before pointed out in connection with the toggle mechanism shown in Figure 1.

In the construction shown in Figures 5 and 6, if the operator operates the lever 69 to throw in the clutch before he has brought down the press head into pressing position, the movement of the toggle link 13 will be ineffective upon the lever 7, which carries 'the press head for the reason that the folding link 14 is in its folded position.

It will be notedthat in both forms of this invention, the power lever remains stationary while the press head is being brought down by hand and that no locks or latches or other similar devices to be operated are used and, further, that the machine is rendered absolutely safe without the use of safety first appliances, guards, cages and the like, such as are used on various types, punch presses, garment presses and the like.

Neither the follower and cam mechanism nor the clutch per se forms any part of my invention, and I make no claim thereto, as such follower and cam mechanism and the clutch are the inventions of others. Such cam follower and mechanism and clutch in so far as this invention is concerned is the mechanism or the adaptation of the mechanism of one form of a commercial pressing machine to which my toggle mechanism is applied What I claim is:

1. A pressing machine comprising a frame, coacting pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a lever pivoted to the frame and supporting the movable pressing element and actuating means comprising toggle links pivoted to gether respectively to said lever and to the frame, the link connected to said lever consisting of two parts pivoted together, forming a toggle, the parts of the last mentioned toggle being pivoted together by a stop joint.

2. In a pressing machine, the combination of a frame, coacting pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a lever pivoted to the frame and supporting the movable element and actuating means comprising a main toggle and. a second toggle forming one of the links of the main toggle. the joint of the second toggle being a stop joint, all whereby the movable pressing element and its supporting lever is movable toward pressing position to straighten and lock the second toggle without moving the main link of the main toggle, and actuatmg means acting on the main link of the main toggle to move it about its pivot.

3. In a pressing machine, the combination of a frame, coacting pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other, the latter being mounted on a frame, a lever carrying movable pressing element and actuating means for the lever comprising a power member and mechanism actuated by the power member and being 1neffective on said lever when actuated, when the movable element is in its open position and'said mechanism including self-contained means movable in position to transmit motion and to lock in such position by the movement of the lever to carry the movable element into pressing 7 position.

4. In a pressing machine, the combination of a frame, coacting pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other,'a lever carrying the'movable pressing element and pivoted between its ends to the frame and actuating means for the lever comprising a power member and mechanism actuated by the power member comprising a main toggle consisting of an upwardly extending main link pivoted at its lower end to the frame, a folding link including parts pivoted together by a stop joint and pivoted respectively to the rear arm of said lever and to the main link whereby the folding link is straightened and locked by stop joint when the movable element is preliminarily moved toward pressing position, the rear arm of said lever extending horizontally and the main toggle link being arranged in inclined position out of a vertical line passing through the pivot of the main link when the toggle is in straightened position, whereby upon the opening movement of the main toggle link the joint connecting the parts of the folding link of the toggle and the rear arm of said lever moves downwardly 'and forwardly faster than the main joint of the toggle passes rearwardly.

5. In a pressing machine, the combination of a frame, coacting pressing elements, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a lever carrying the movable pressing element and pivoted between its ends to the frame and actuating means for the lever comprising a power member and mechanism actuated by the power member comprising a main toggle consisting of an upwardly extending main to the frame, a folding link including parts pivoted together by a stop joint and pivoted respectively to the rear arm of said lever and to the main link whereby the folding link is straightened and locked by the stop joint when the movable element is preliminarily moved toward pressing position, the rear arm of the lever and the links, pivots and joints of the toggle being arranged and related so that the pivot connecting the folding link of the toggle and the rear arm of said lever travels forwardly faster than the main joint of the toggle passes rearwardly upon the initial opening movement of the main toggle link.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name at Syracuse, in the county of Ononda a and State of New York, this 24th day 0 October, 1923.

ALEXANDER J. SOCIA.

link pivoted at its lower end 

